2157. 'If now I have found grace in your eyes' means the respectful regard that became a feature of the Lord's state when He took notice of that perception. This becomes clear from the affection that produces the state of humility which these actual words imply and also those that follow immediately after, 'Do not, I beg of you, pass from over your servant', which also imply a state of humility. Within every individual part of the Word there are both affection and subject matter. Celestial angels perceive the Word as it exists in the internal sense as to the affection there, whereas spiritual angels perceive it as it exists in the internal sense as to the subject matter there. Those who perceive the Word in the internal sense as to the affection there do not pay any attention at all to the words, which are expressions of the subject matter, but instead form ideas for themselves from the affection and the consecutive details of that affection, and do so with endless variety. Here, for example, when they come to the words, 'If now I have found grace in your eyes, do not, I beg of you, pass from over your servant', they perceive the Lord's state of humiliation in the Human, yet only the affection that produces humility. From that affection - in a manner, variety, and profusion beyond words - they form celestial ideas for themselves which can hardly be called ideas. Rather they should be called so many 'lights' engendered by affections and perceptions - which follow one another in a continuous sequence according to the chain of affection that runs through the things present in the Word that is being read.

[2] From this it becomes clear that the perception, thought, and speech of celestial angels are more indescribable and far richer than the perception, thought, and speech of spiritual angels, the latter being limited to the subject matter, according with the sequence of expressions that are used. (That the nature of the speech of celestial angels is such, see Volume One, in 1647.) This explains why these words, 'If now I have found grace in your eyes', mean in the celestial sense the respectful regard that became a feature of the Lord's state when He took notice of that perception. What is more, 'finding grace in your eyes' was a customary phrase used in every expression of respect, as becomes clear from the respect offered by Laban to Jacob,

Laban said to him, If now I have found grace in your eyes. Genesis 30:27.

And from that offered by Jacob to Esau,

Jacob said, No, I beg of you; if now, I have found grace in your eyes. Genesis 33:10.

And similar examples occur elsewhere in the Word.

When the Bible speaks of "Jehovah," it is representing love itself, the inmost love that is the essence of the Lord. That divine love is one, whole and complete in itself, and Jehovah also is one, a name applied only to the Lord. The divine love expresses itself in the form of wisdom. Love, then, is the essence of God -- His inmost. Wisdom -- the loving understanding of how to put love into action -- is slightly more external, giving love a way to express itself. Wisdom, however, is expressed in a great variety of thoughts and ideas, what the Writings collectively call divine truth. There are also many imaginary gods, and sometimes angels and people can be called gods (the Lord said Moses would be as a god to Aaron). So when the Bible calls the Lord "God," it is in most cases referring to divine truth. In other cases, "God" has reference to what is called the divine human. The case there is this: As human beings, we cannot engage the Lord directly as divine love. It is too powerful and too pure. Instead, we have to approach Him by understanding Him through divine truth. Divine truth, then, is the Lord in human form, a form we can approach and understand. Thus "God" is also used in reference to this human aspect, because it is an expression of truth.